Featured Artist: Rucca

To start off this week, I talked to a buddy of mine, Lucca, who I’ve known now for a little over two years. He’s pretty versatile, kind of like the jack of all trades type fella. He’s a bit of a hypebeast and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous of his wardrobe let alone his sneaker collection haha.

Anyway let’s just jump into this…

Who are you? What do you do? Where are you from?

Yo! I’m Rucca. I’m a Digital Strategist/DJ/Photographer originally from São Paulo Brazil. I currently live in Washington, DC working for one of the largest strategy agencies in the country helping non-profits and political campaigns navigate the digital world. But once 6pm hits, I’m in the streets with my camera taking photos of clients of all sorts. By 11pm, I’m behind the decks at clubs across DC. I’ve focused most of my music around house/techno, but I have been expanding into much heavier music.

How’d you decide on DJ/Mixing and/or Producing? Why?

I’m not sure what came over me. I just remember going to my first show and being fascinated by how they were doing it. Eventually downloaded some free software and went from there. Played a few house parties in high school. In college I lived with an international DJ by the name of Mekanikal (https://soundcloud.com/djmekanikalofficial) who taught me even more and pushed me to improve. And now here I am getting booked across the East Coast and traveling to festivals I never thought I’d be playing.

How long have you been DJ/Mixing and/or Producing?

I guess it’s been about 8 years (shit… time flies)

How’d you form your moniker?

In middle school this guy once called me Rucca. It kinda stuck from there. Only recently did I find out that Rucca means something very different… check urban dictionary if you’re bored.

One of the most difficult aspects about doing this scene?

It’s definitely a “what can you do for me” scene. If you have nothing to offer and you don’t push yourself, people won’t give you a chance. I learned that the hard way in the beginning. But there’s more positive aspects to the scene than negative.

Do you feel like nowadays you can’t experience the music the same as you did when you were just a listener?

Damn… good question. Yes. It is very different. Because before I understood the things behind the music, it was all kind of magic to me. Yes, there’s still shows I go to that blow me away production wise as music wise. But for the most part, it’s difficult to hear a DJ transition poorly without thinking to yourself “damn they should’ve done this instead”

What’s your favorite type of food?

Pasta & sushi.

Favorite Artist or Favorite Track right now?

There has been one song that is on repeat for me every single day. It’s Jay Hudson’s remix of SZA’s Love Galore

In terms of artists, I don’t have one favorite. Right now I’m heavily into Joyryde, Kanye, Logic and SZA.

Any mixes/tracks of yours we should check out?

A little over a year ago I put out this mix about all the changes I was going through. I was feeling a lot of emotions while I was traveling the world. So I put it into this mix called Changes. I would add a song or two as my mood changed. You can feel the progression as you listen through.

Do you have any cool shows or prospects in the future?

I just wrapped up a great show with Hekler. There’s more for the future. But for right now I’ve been laying low focusing on my photography (which you can check out here

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Anything more to add?

Support your local artists! They’re usually more unique and have a much more difficult job than the top artists